Podium Discussion: 50 Years After “Jaws”: Sharks, Pain, Ethics

A shark rises from the water, biting off limbs—our media image of sharks. Join neuroscientists & divers as they explore the other side: how do sharks process painful stimuli?

Beyond now, we strive for an informed, ethical, and sustainable future. Current shark finning practices—still widespread despite legal bans—reflect outdated ideas about sharks, particularly the long-held belief that they do not feel pain. This belief has been fueled by dramatic anecdotes from fishermen and early observers who described sharks continuing to swim, feed, or even attack despite serious injuries. Reports such as sharks disemboweled or split in two still feeding gave rise to the myth of the “insensate predator.” Some even claimed “the weight of the evidence supports the view that sharks do not feel pain.”

However, scientists at MDC are using a host of bioinformatics, neural net based behavioral tracking and transcriptomics to systemically enquire the ability of sharks to respond to painful stimuli. Emerging evidence suggests sharks may, in fact, experience pain, challenging past assumptions and raising urgent ethical questions. If sharks are capable of distress, what does that mean for the way we treat them—for trade and conservation?

A panel of scientists, journalists, and divers will explore these intersections—inviting the audience to think beyond now and toward a world where science, ethics, and empathy guide our relationship with nature.

Sampurna Chakrabarti, PhD (she/her) was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin working on mechanosensation and pain. As a Grass Fellow in the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, USA, she investigated pain-like behaviors in sharks. Dr Chakrabarti has co-authored more than 10 research papers in leading journals including Science, PAIN and Arthritis and Rheumatology and serves as reviewer in journals such as, Science Advances, European Journal of Pain, Pain Reports and is an Editorial Fellow in the Journal of Pain. 

Victoria Stiglbauer, PhD is a neuroscientist and psychiatrist based in Berlin with a lifelong fascination for the ocean. A passionate diver for over 16 years, she has joined shark behavior studies in the Bahamas with Dr. Erich Ritter and encountered a wide range of species from tiger to hammerhead sharks. In 2018/2019 she launched a project on shark nociception, aiming to challenge the myth that sharks don’t feel pain.

Luka Marie Weber is a journalist, dive instructor, and underwater photographer. She works for public broadcasting in Germany and is involved with the German Ocean Foundation, advocating for citizen science projects. After surviving a helicopter crash in 2019 that resulted in spine damage, she has found pain relief through diving. Luka also runs her own travel agency, where she organizes trips to various dive destinations and educates participants about ocean conservation.

(Moderator) Athanasios Balomenos is a PhD researcher at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, where he investigates how the nervous system senses mechanical stimuli, smell, and pain. He studied biology at the University of Athens (BSc) and Medical Neurosciences at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (MSc). Passionate about capturing the biological world, Athanasios has received distinctions for striking scientific images of pain-sensing neurons from the Helmholtz Association’s Best Scientific Image contest and from the European Neuroscience Society. Beyond the lab, he enjoys helping communicate science to the public, volunteering with Berlin Science Week, and now moderating discussions that connect research with curiosity. 

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